Safety-elevator.



No. 898,298 PATENTED SEPT. 8,.1908. A. J. WORTHEN. SAFETY ELEVATOR.

Ar'ruonxou FILED our. 30,1907.

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ANDREW .T. WORTHEN, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD TO JACOB G. ODENWALDER, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, AND ONE-THIRD TO CHESTER H. LOTHROP,

OF EVERETT, MASSACHUSETTS.

SAFETY-ELEVATOR.

ITO/898,298.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 8, 1908 Application filed October 30, 1907. Serial No. 399,947.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, ANDREW J. WORTHEN, a citizen of the United States, and resident of St. Louis, Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety- Elevators, of which the following is a specification, containing a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

My invention relates to a safety elevator, my object being to equip an elevator car with appliances which will automatically operate-and bring the car to a stop should the hoisting cables become broken.

A further object of my invention is to provide means for checking the downward speed of the car between floors, and to arrange means whereby said car is stopped with its bottom directly opposite a floor or landing in order that passengers may readily find exit from the car, and not be temporarily imprisoned by reason of the car stopping between fioors or landings. I

To the above purposes, my invention consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts, which will be hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in the claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of an elevator car of my improved construction, the same being shown in operative position between the usual vertical guides; Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken through the center of the upper portion of the elevator car, and showing the safety appliances shifted into position to stop the car. Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical section of a pneumatic cushion made use of inmy improved safety elevator.

Referring by numerals to the accompanying drawings:1 designates the elevator cage or car, which is arranged for operation between the pairs of oppositely arranged vertical guides 2, which are positioned at the sides of an elevator shaft or hatchway.

Fixed on top of the cage 1 is a frame 3, the vertical guides 4 of which travel immediately opposite the spaces between the pairs of guides 2; and arranged on these vertical portions 4 are horizontally disposed tubular bearings 5, through which operate spring pressed bolts 6. Pivotally connected to the inner ends of these bolts are the lower ends of levers 7, fulcrumed at their centers to brackets 8, which are formed integral with the parts 4, and the upper ends of said levers being provided with anti-friction rollers 9.

Arranged for vertical movement between guides 10, immediately above the center of the cage 1, is a weight 11, the sides of which are inclined and adapted to bear against the anti-friction rollers 9 and secured in any suitable manner to the under side of this weight is a retractile coil spring 12, the lower end of which is secured to the top of the cage 1. The elevator cables 13 pass through openings formed in the upper end of the frame 3, and are attached to ears formed integral with the top of the weight 11.

Arranged between the upright guides 2, at predetermined distances apart, are blocks 14, on which rest the lower ends of air cylinders 15, and operating therein are pistons 16, the upper ends of which project above the tops of said cylinders. These pistons are so arranged as to be engaged by the outer ends of the bolts 6 whenthe same are forced outward to their limit of movement; and the blocks 14 are so located as that when the bolts 6 engage the upper ends of the pistons, the elevator cage door is directly opposite the hatchway door or landing.

Pairs of leaf springs 18 are fixed at their upper ends to the inner faces of the upright guides 2, at suitable distances apart between the blocks 14, and bearing against the inside of each leaf spring is a small auxiliary leaf spring 19 and bearing against the centers of the springs 19 are the ends of set screws 20, which pass through the upright guides 2, which arrangement is for adjusting the distance between the springs 18, and consequently regulating the tension or resistance oflered by said springs. These springs are so arranged on the upright guides as that when the bolts 6 are moved outward, their outer ends travel between the pairs of springs 18, and thus said springs act as brakes to retard the downward movement of the elevator cage when the same drops as a result of the breaking of the hoisting cables.

When my improved elevator is in use, the weight of the cage maintains the weight 11 between the upper ends of the guides 10 'against the upper end of the frame 3, thus expanding the spring 12. The inclined side faces of the weight engage the rollers 9, forcing the upper ends of the levers 7 apart, con

sequently drawing the lower ends of said levers toward one another, and drawing the bolts 6 into the bearings 5.

With the parts so positioned, the elevator cage is free to move vertically in the usual manner, and should a break occur in the hoisting cable, I the weight 11 will immediately drop by reason of its own specific gravity and the downward pull of the retractile coil spring 12, which movement releases the upper ends of the levers 7, and the spring actuated bolts 6 will now move outward, and the outer ends of said bolts will pass between the leaf springs 18 as the cage drops and as said springs frictionally engage the ends of said bolts, the downward motion of the cage is retarded.

As the dropping cage approaches a floor or landings the outer ends of the bolts 6 en gage the upper ends of the pistons 16, and the latter are forced downward through the air cylinders 15, thus compressing the air below said pistons, which action stops the cage at the floor or landing with a cushioning effect.

The safety appliances constructed as herein shown and described are simple, inexpensive, easily applied to all forms of ele-' vators, prevent a dropping cage from acquiring excessive momentum during its downward travel, and stop said cage at a floor or landing.

I claimz- 1. The combination with an elevator cage and vertical guides therefor, of pneumatic cushioning devices located at predetermined distances apart between the guides, friction springs fixed to the inner faces of the guides, and spring actuated bolts carried by the elevator cage, and which bolts, when released, move outward so that the outer ends thereof engage between the friction springs and against the pneumatic cushioning devices when the elevator cables are broken.

2. The combination with an elevator cage and the vertical guides therefor, of a pair of spring actuated bolts arranged on the eleva- V tor cage, means whereby said bolts are normally held inoperative, friction springs arranged on the vertical guides for engaging the outer ends of the bolts when the same are moved outward into operative positions, and pneumatic cushioning devices arranged between the vertical guides and adapted to engage the outer ends of the bolts.

3. The combination with an elevator car, ofa bolt carried by the car and adapted to be laterally projected therefrom, and yielding means adapted to be successively engaged by said bolt, said means being adapted to gradually stop the movement of the car.

4. The combination with an elevator car, of a bolt carried thereby andadapted to be laterally projected therefrom, and spring means adapted to be successively engaged by said bolt, said means being adapted to gradually stop the movement of the car.

5. The combination with an elevator car, of a bolt carried by the car and adapted to be projected therefrom, and means arranged for engagement by said bolt, said means comprising bowed springs spaced to position their points of greatest altitude at a distance apart somewhat less than the diameter of said bolt.

6. The combination with an elevator car, of a bolt movably mounted u )on the car, means bywhich said bolt may e projected beyond the car, and yielding means adapted to be successively engaged by said bolt, said last named means being adapted to gradually stop the movement of the car.

7. The combination with an elevator car, of a bolt carried by the car, means adapted to retain the bolt normally retracted, means adapted to project the bolt when released, and yielding means adapted to be successively engaged by the bolt, said last named "means being adapted to gradually stop the movement of the car.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my ANDREW J. WORTHEN.

Witnesses:

M. P. SMITH, E. L. WALLACE. 

